Bottle supporting cradle



May 26, 1959 AEF UHLIG 2,888,127

I BOTTLE SUPPORTING CRADLE Filed Sept. 30, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QT@ Ki;

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y 1959 A. F. UHLIG BOTTLE SUPPORTING CRADLE 2v Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledSept. 30, 1957 A TTOR United States Patent BOTTLE SUPPORTING CRADLEAlbert F. Uhlig, Oakland, Calif., assignor to Owens- Illinois GlassCompany, a corporation of Ohio Application September 30, 1957, SerialNo. 687,055

Claims. (Cl. 198.-33)

The present invention relates to bottle supporting cradles and moreparticularly is a cradle designed to rotatably carry bottles or similarcylindrical articles in recumbent positions to and away from aninspecting station where the article is rotated about its axis whilebeing inspected for readily identifiable defects. At such station thebottle or other cylindrical article while still supported in its cradleis engaged at its ends by a chuck which is positively driven to effectrotation of the bottle while an electronic inspecting device scans aselected rotating surface for and detects certain kinds of imperfectionsif such be present.

An important object of my invention is the provision of a cradle whichis capable of easy adjustment to accommodate glass containers ofdifferent specific kinds and dimensions. Thus the cradle can rotatablysupport either narrow-neck bottles or wide-mouth jars irrespective oftheir height.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a cradle of theabove character incorporating simple, novel means for accommodating itto bottles or jars of different height.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outhereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of an article handlingapparatus incorporating my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view schematically showing my cradlesupporting bottles at two inspecting stations.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the cradle with a bottle occupying arecumbent position therein.

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the cradle.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cradle.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the pivoted roll carryingfingers.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the second finger which as shown in Fig.5 is closely associated with the finger of Fig. 6.

In connection with the manufacture of glass containers, such as bottlesand jars, it has become necessary to inspect them carefully forimperfections prior to their being shipped to the packer customers.

These imperfections vary in character and some appear in and about thebottoms and are such as to require recumbent positioning and rotation ofthe containers about their axes to thereby present the desired surfacesto scanning by an electronic device which, if it detects a flaw of agiven type, actuates means for removing the imperfect article at a givenstation.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I have schematically illustrated apparatus of theabove nature. An endless carrier 10 supporting a plurality of bottle orjar carrying cradles 11 conveys bottles 12 in succession and instep-by-step fashion to several inspecting stations 13 at one of whichis an electronic device 14 in the presence of which the bottle or jar isto be rotated for the purpose of bringing the heel and bottom portionsinto the field being scanned by said device. Following such inspection,the bottles or jars are transferred to a conveyor 15 which. carries themto other stations (not shown) for packing; in cartons or if defective,to a cullet bin. The cradles 11 are intended to support the bottles orjars in recumbent positions and in such manner that they may be rotatedabout their longitudinal axes quite easily by means (not shown) yeteffectively held against undesired bodily displacement laterally.

Each cradle, as illustrated, comprises a base member 16 which is anelongated bar having opposed beveled side margins 17' and at one end acam roll carrying arm 18 designed for cooperation with cam means (notshown) in controlling the operating positions of the cradle. Springfingers 19 at the other end of the bar provide for ready separableattachment of the cradle to abracket 20 on the endless carrier 10.

Two generally U-shaped carriers 21 are mounted upon the base member 16,each carrier comprising a body 22 formed with a dove-tail channel 23 inits lower surface .to accommodate the beveled base 16 and provide forsliding of said carrier lengthwise of the latter to. any desiredposition. Anupstanding curved arm 24 is provided at each end of the body22 thereby completingthe U-shaped carrier. The twocarriers aredisposed-in longitudinal alignment and each carries one set of bottle orjar supporting fingers, the latter arranged in pairs with :one pairmounted upon each of the carrier arms 24. 7

By reference to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, it will be observed that each pair offingers comprises an upper finger 25 of generally triangular form andpivoted near one end of its base line 26 by means of a horizontal hingepin 27 to the upper end of the corresponding carrier arm 24. The apexend 28 of the finger carries an anti-friction roll 29 designed forsupporting rolling contact with the lower surface of a container orsimilar article having a cylinderlike surface in this area of contact.An arcuate slot 30 having its center coaxial with the hinge pin 27 andaccommodating a lock bolt 31 provides means for releasably holding thefinger in any of several possible adjusted positions as may be dictatedby the diameter or specific position of the surface to be contacted. Aspring device which normally yieldingly urges the finger 25 to itslowermost or zero position and consists of a spring wire loop 32 havingone arm 33 anchored to a stationary boss 34 at the pivot point and asecond arm 35 which is secured to the finger proper near the arcuateslot 30. This spring, upon loosening the lock bolt, urges the fingerabout its pivot in a counter-clockwise direction.

A second finger 36 which structurally is a duplicate of the so-calledupper finger 25 is pivoted to a hinge pin 37 at a point spaced below theother hinge pin 27 and has an arcuate slot 38 receiving the same lockbolt 31 as the slot 30 of the upper finger. An anti-friction roll 39 iscarried by this second finger for rolling engagement with opposed sidesurfaces of a bottle body or neck. A spring device, comprising a wireloop 40 and arms 41 and 42, functions to move the finger about its pivotin a counter-clockwise direction when the lock bolt 31 has beenloosened.

By reference to Figs. 4 and 5, it'will be observed that the so-calledupper roll carrying fingers 25 form a bottom support for bottles or jarsand are adjusted as required articles of dilferent diameter and varyingcontour and furthermore is adaptable to articles of different length. Tothis end, the U-shaped carriers 11 can be adjusted independentlylengthwise of the base member 16 and locked in any desired position bymeans of a lock screw 22 as shown in Fig. 5.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope oftheappended claims.

I claim:

1. A cradle for supporting an elongated cylindrical article for rotationabout its axis and in a recumbent position while moving to and from eachof a series of inspecting stations, said cradle comprising a basememher, a pair of aligned U-shaped carriers mounted in spaced-apartrelationship upon said base member, a finger pivoted to the upper end ofeach of the arms of said carriers for vertical swinging movement, ananti-friction roll at the free end of each finger for rolling supportingcontact with a lower surface of a recumbent article, a second fingerpivoted to each of the arms of said carriers at a point below the firstnamed fingers for vertical swinging movement, an anti-friction roll atthe free end of each of the second fingers for rolling holding contactwith substantially horizontally spaced surfaces of the article, springmeans yieldingly urging the roll carrying free ends of the fingers aboutthe pivots of the latter in a direction away from a normal articlesupporting position and releasable holding means for securing thefingers in any of a number of article supporting positions as determinedby the diameter of the article.

2. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the U-shaped carriers being mountedfor independent sliding movement toward and away from each other on thebase member to thereby adjust their spaced relationship as required byarticles of different length and means for securing the carriers in anyadjusted position.

3. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the releasable holding meanscomprising alocking bolt carried by each of the arms of the U-shapedcarriers at a point between the pivots of the fingers and an arcuateslot formed in each of the fingers about its pivot, the arcuate slots ofthe two fingers on each carrier arm intersecting each other andaccommodating a single locking bolt.

4. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the spring means comprising a coilspring individual to each finger having one arm connected to the fingerat a point spaced from its pivot and a second arm anchored at the fingerpivot.

5. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the base member being an elongatedrelatively narrow bar and each carrier having a portion slidinglystraddling said bar and thereby providing for relative longitudinalmovement of the carriers on the base member and means for releasablylocking the carriers in any relative adjusted position on said basemember.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,354,628 Whitesell July 25, 1944

